Legislative Priorities for 2023
Progreso works to improve the quality of life for all Washingtonians through legislative action. Through coalitions, partnerships and support from the community, Progreso supports or introduces bills to the legislature to advocate for communities that historically held limited to no political power. Here are a few bills that Progreso will be supporting this upcoming Legislative session.
EDUCATION
Free College in Washington State
A cost-free CTC system will have a strong positive effect on the state’s economy, and it quickly pays for itself (https://1gyhoq479ufd3yna29x7ubjn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/CEW-The-Cost-of-Free-College-FR.pdf). There is public support for making this important investment. Free community college is wildly popular with 78 percent of the public supporting it strongly or somewhat. It also has overwhelming support across party lines.
VOTING RIGHTS
SB 5082 - Removing Advisory Votes from the Ballot
Advisory Votes are non-binding votes. They confuse voters, which may deter them from voting overall. Many voters feel like their votes don’t truly have an impact when they find out that these votes are non-binding.
Ranked Choice Voting for 2024 Primary
Ranked Choice voting has been implemented for Seattle Local elections, and elections in other cities as well. This will be an opportunity for WA voters to try out ranked choice voting, only for the presidential election for the primaries in 2024.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
An Act to Reduce Plastic Waste 1085
Plastics are an environmental problem. There are significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with every step of the plastics production process. Animals ingest microplastics and get entangled in larger pieces, and plastic foam and other plastic trash is on every shoreline. In many cases, less-polluting and more sustainable alternatives are available.This bill will: Require refill water stations in newly built constructions to help the transition to reusable water bottles; phasing out mini personal care packaging to help eliminate plastic unnecessary hard to recycle plastic waste; banning foam docks and floats to reduce major source of plastic pollution in lakes and marine waters
PRODUCER-LED RECYCLING SYSTEM: Requires producers of consumer packaging and paper to pay for recycling services in WA. INCREASES TRANSPARENCY AND RECYCLING: Establishes recycling and reuse targets for producers and sets transparency requirements for responsible recycling. EXPANDS RECYCLING SERVICES: Expands recycling collection services to all households that have curbside garbage collection services. CREATES UNIFORM STATEWIDE LIST OF RECYCLABLES: Creates a standardized list of what can be recycled statewide. CREATES BEVERAGE CONTAINER RETURN SYSTEM: Creates a beverage deposit system so consumers can redeem their bottles and cans for 10 cents.
HEALTH EQUITY
Introducing Programs like Fresh Bucks to the Rest of the State
LCF participates in the popular program Fresh Bucks that is only available in Seattle City Limits. Many residents outside of city limits hope to receive the help but are unable to. A state-wide program should be supported to ensure that all communities have access to healthy groceries.
Background
Every year, Progreso brings our Latinx communities together from across the state to advocate on the issues that matter to us the most during the legislative session. It's important for us to show our representatives that we come as a collective to protect our political power across the state. We will be hosting conversations with Latinx leaders, providing testimony and nonprofit building workshops, and facilitating policy meetings with your legislators!
SEMANA DE ACCIÓN LEGISLATIVA
Cada año, Latino Community Fund y Progreso reúnen a nuestras comunidades Latinxs para abogar en los asuntos que más nos importan durante la sesión legislativa. Es importante para nosotros mostrar a nuestros representantes que venimos como un colectivo para proteger nuestro poder político a través del estado.
Únase a Latino Community Fund y Progreso en nuestra semana de acción el 16 - 20 de enero. Por favor llena esta forma 
RSVP para recibir el enlace de Zoom y las fechas/horas para las juntas con los legisladores y juntas con nosotros para entrenamientos!
LEGISLATIVE ACTION WEEK
Every year, Latino Community Fund, Progreso and Alianza bring our Latinx communities together from across the state to advocate on the issues that matter to us the most during the legislative session. It's important for us to show our representatives that we come as a collective to protect our political power across the state. We will be hosting conversations with Latinx leaders, providing testimony and nonprofit building workshops, and facilitating policy meetings with your legislators!
Take action with us
LWA-2023 RSVP to receive updates on Zoom links and call times for meetings with legislators. Take a peek at our schedule to see if your legislator is on the list! We want to hear from you this session! You can also subscribe to our Chisme Politico newsletter to catch up on the latest legislative updates.